Abu Dhabi : At a lecture at Zayed University recently, Norwegian Crown Prince Haakon Magnus,discussed not only what could be done to combat global poverty but also touched on potential future bilateral cooperation with the UAE.
"A prosperous and cooperative bilateral relationship is expanding between Norway and the UAE, two countries who share many commonalities and values," Crown Prince Magnus said. "The UAE has moved forward in large steps since 1950, achieving in such a short period what took Norway much longer to accomplish," he added.
Goals
Universal education, gender equality, child and maternal health, the fight against Aids, environmental sustainability and global partnership are the Crown Prince's millennium goals. Additionally, he is campaigning for the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), whose first goal is to eradicate extreme poverty around the world by 2015.
"We have the opportunity to enhance other people's dignity through the choices we make. By enhancing other people's dignity, we also enhance our own and make a difference in the lives of others for generations to come," Crown Prince Magnus said. "We need to see each other as one whole people, as a family, not as them and us; we all want to excel and we all want the best for our children," he added.
Inspiring young people
The Crown Prince is also the co-founder of Global Dignity (GD), an autonomous non-profit, non-criticism and non-partisan project, which aims to commend and encourage best practice and dignity-centred leadership rather than criticising shortcomings. GD is linked to the 2020 process of the World Economic Forum.
"Global Dignity strives to inspire young people to reflect on the fundamental significance of dignity in their own lives and the lives of others, and how they can contribute to a positive change in the world," Crown Prince Magnus said.
"I like the way the Crown Prince talked spontaneously without reading from a paper," said Alyazi, a student.
"He gave us an idea on how to contribute in changing the world," added Mariam Al Hosani, a student, and Al Bishr Mohammad said: "He showed us the way on how to make a difference in the future."
"Addressing global issues and many points of interest along with engaging the students was a great success," said Paul Abraham, Assistant Dean, Men's Campus.
